


Little Episodes

by shelny18



Series: Compatibility [5]
Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Family, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Parents & Children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-02
Updated: 2013-07-09
Packaged: 2017-12-10 05:41:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/782450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shelny18/pseuds/shelny18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of events from the childhood of Alana, set both before and after Enjolras returns to his hometime.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dresses and Braids

"Daddy, hair," Alana complained, leaving her dolls to stand in front of her father.

"What about it sweetheart?" Enjolras asked, looking up from his paper and sighing when he realised how long her hair had grown. When he saw the bobble in her hand he sighed again. "Did Mrs Dodd give you that?" She nodded. "Let's have a go then." A minute later he groaned, the snapped bobble lying on the floor and Alana's hair messed up. "Give me a minute," he promised, hurrying out of the flat and knocking on his neighbour's door. "I need your help," he said quickly, the moment Mrs Dodd had opened the door.

Alana simply sat on the floor and gazed up at them both as they re-entered the flat, Mrs Dodd chuckling quietly.

"Tying hair is easy," she explained, pulling another bobble out of her pocket and sitting on the sofa behind Alana. "Watch carefully." She tied Alana's hair back as slowly as she could, making sure Enjolras was watching. "Now you try." Pulling the bobble off again she held it out, only just managing to stop herself from laughing at the look of concentration on Enjolras's face. "It's easy. I can't believe you've never tied anyone's hair back before. Didn't you ever for Charlotte, or a previous girlfriend?"

Enjolras didn't bother explaining that Charlotte had been his first girlfriend, instead just shaking his head and quickly copying what she had done. He grinned when Alana's hair slipped easily into the ponytail.

"See? Told you it was easy," Mrs Dodd smiled.

"You are a life saver," he thanked, surprising her with a rare hug.

* * *

Two weeks later, the little girl in Alana popped up again when they were out shopping.

"Daddy, dress."

Enjolras glanced down at her, hoping desperately that she was just pointing something out and didn't actually want it. The jeans and red t-shirts he normally dressed her in suited Alana fine, contrasting with her blonde hair perfectly and making her look more like a mini-Enjolras than ever.

"Pwease?" she asked, giving him puppy eyes.

"Let's have a look," he sighed. The fact that his three-year-old daughter was taking more of an interest in her clothes was a sign that she was starting to grow up, and it worried him.

The dress did indeed suit her, but Enjolras couldn't help but miss the jeans and t-shirts she'd used to wear.

* * *

In the weeks that followed Enjolras got used to brushing back her hair and placing a headband in it, buying a few more everyday dresses which she happily wore whenever not at nursery, both father and daughter agreeing that jeans were better for running round in. Even though he still wished she'd waited a few years to grow into a girly phase, Enjolras was happy to spoil her, buying new clothes whenever he could afford them as Alana grew almost constantly. He even became an expert in tying back her hair, after a few errors at first, something Enjolras had never thought would happen.

He blamed Disney when it happened. Alana had been enthralled by Tangled from the first moment she saw it, her favourite colour becoming purple practically overnight and her begging for a fancy dress costume the second they passed the shop. The problems arose when she pointed at her braid one afternoon when watching the film, turning on the puppy dog eyes which Enjolras could never say no to.

Sighing, he found some spare bobbles and turned on his laptop, searching for instructions on how to plait hair.

"Come here then," he said finally, wondering how on Earth he was going to manage this.

Two hours and many failed attempts later, having changed the film to Cars when Tangled finished in an attempt to persuade Alana to stay sat still, Enjolras finally managed to produce a half-decent braid. Smiling proudly, he quickly snapped a picture with his phone.

"Alright missy, bedtime," he said quietly, pulling her up into his arms as she yawned.

"Again tomorrow?" she asked, voice faint as she struggled to stay awake.

"Yes, I'll plait it again tomorrow," he promised.

Next morning, Alana's plait was almost perfect when they left the flat to go to nursery. What Enjolras never told anyone was just how late he'd sat up the night before, practising plaiting three pieces of string together until he was satisfied.


	2. The Black Knight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grantaire likes to make up stories about the artwork at galleries.

"But art galleries are boring," Alana sulked, trying Bambi eyes at her father in an attempt to escape having to go round. 

"I agree on the most part, but it's Papa's birthday so we're treating him today," Enjolras replied absentmindedly, already considering what to include in his speech the following week. 

"You only think that because you've never me take you round," Grantaire corrected, ruffling her hair as he passed. Upon reaching Enjolras he wrapped one arm round his partner's waist and pressed a soft kiss to his temple. "Stop thinking, I could practically hear you on the other side of the room," he whispered, achieving the desired effect of making Enjolras smile and focus on them again. 

"Sorry, it's just a busy time coming up," he tried to explain, but Grantaire simply shook it off  

"I know," he shrugged, refusing to let any of their usual arguments about his working ruin their day. "So missy, you ready to have your mind changed about art?"

"Nope," she grinned up at him but she took his hand all the same, letting him lead her into the exhibition. Enjolras followed behind, waiting for the stories he knew were going to follow.

* * *

"Now this cottage is part of a place called Whalley Abbey," Grantaire said as they entered a small room. Nothing in there was famous but that appealed to the artist all the more, making him wish he knew the individual story behind each painting and artist. For Alana though he was telling what he knew and making up the rest. "I went to a wedding there once when I was a child. The cottage was built into the outer walls of the Abbey grounds and was tiny, just one room upstairs and one down, with a toilet in the garden! Anyway, the booklet tells us this picture was painted for a newly wed couple living there." Upon seeing the small white blob Grantaire barely stopped himself from grinning. "And that white blob was their dog," he quickly made up, pointing to the blob on question for Alana. "Who was playing in the garden at the time so was immortalised forever in this."

"What was the dog called?" Alana demanded, wanting to try and catch him out. 

"Storm," he replied almost instantly, making Enjolras chuckle. The politician's childhood pet had been a pure white cat called Storm, something Grantaire had heard about many times. 

"How can you know that?"

"Because I'm magic," Grantaire retorted, Enjolras only just containing his snort of laughter and earning himself a glare. "Moving swiftly on then. This next picture is local to us, do you recognise it?"

"The black knight!"

"That's right."

As Grantaire started to tell the young girl about the Black Knight Enjolras drifted away to a corner, studying the map to find out which sections they were going to need to keep the six-year-old away from.

* * *

It was a fortnight later when they next found themselves in the square by the Black Knight statue. Enjolras had promised the outing as an apology for practically ignoring the pair of them during the previous hectic week at work and so was playing with Alana over at the foot of the plinth. As ever Grantaire was perched on the edge of the fountain, sketchbook open on his knee and pencil moving swiftly as he captured the image of the knight on horseback. Underneath was scribbled a quote from Monty Python, the first in a series he was planning with the statue as the Black Knight (obviously) and Enjolras as King Arthur (though he'd yet to tell him that).

"Daddy, can we start until the thirteenth hour?" Alana asked suddenly, surprising her father. 

"Allie, the thirteenth hour is just a figure of speech," he explained, misunderstanding her completely. 

Her little brow furrowed. "But we can stay until the clock strikes thirteen?" she insisted. 

"The clock doesn't strike thirteen," Enjolras corrected patiently. "It only goes up the twelve."

"But what about the knight?"

"Well what about the knight?"Enjolras practically repeated. 

"If the clock doesn't strike thirteen then when does it get up and walk round the square?"

Enjolras blinked.

"...What?" was all he could manage. 

"Papa said that when the clock strikes thirteen the knight gets off his horse and walks round the square."

"Grantaire!" Enjolras barked, making the artist jump and almost fall backwards into the fountain. "Quit telling my daughter nonsense. And you Allie, don't listen to him in future. He likes to make stuff up okay?"

"So the Black Knight doesn't really walk round?" Alana doubled checked. 

"No, just the local legend."

That reassurance never stopped Alana though, and she lived out her life secretly believing that one day the clock would strike thirteen and the Knight would wake again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Both these paintings are real and at either my gran's house or my own. I once believed the black knight tale when my great-grandad told me it, and the dog at the cottage was real as well, belonging to my parents.


End file.
